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Published: June 17th 2017
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01 Elephant
An elephant hiding behind the mopane trees. Geo: -22.6922, 31.0166
At this time of the year the gates at the camp open at 4:30am. This rest camp was pretty quiet, there were only a few vehicles in camp last night. We were one of the first vehicles out the gate this morning. Soon after sunrise we came across a bull elephant happily eating Mopane leaves. In this part of the park the area is dominated by the many Mopane trees. The leaves on these trees are butterfly shaped.
We drove towards Crooks Corner. Along the way we saw a male nyala, only a few vehicles, tree squirrel, a couple of dagga boys (old, male buffalo) eating grass, giraffe, elephant right by the car, baobab trees, mopane trees, various birds, waterbuck, tree squirrel, impala, warthog, vervet monkey and zebra.
We then came across a large herd of buffaloes. They were standing in the road and on both sides. As we approached quite a few of them stopped eating and began to stare at us. Paul slowly drove us towards the herd. I was a little bit scared and uncomfortable, they are huge, strong animals, they look grumpy and we were in a small little car – a Toyota Yaris! We
02 Nyala
A male nyala. were now surrounded by buffaloes. Two of the male buffaloes then started to play fight using their horns. This caused a lot of dust. The herd slowly walked away into the bush. This was such a great experience once I got over my fear.
We finally arrived at Crooks Corner. This place is situated in the north-east. We drove through a fever tree forest. In the river we saw crocodiles swimming in the river and basking on the sand and many hippos. On the other side of the river is Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This area where the Luvuvhu and Limpopo Rivers meet. It got its name from the criminals who took advantage of the several close borders. There was a nice view point to park at and see the area.
Less than a kilometre away we arrived at the Pafuri Border Post, which leads into Mozambique. Here we turned around and drove back into the park. On a bridge that crossed the Luvuvhu River we saw a waterbuck and various birds. It was time now for lunch. We stopped at a picnic spot to eat some food. Then we continued on. Today we were going to stay out all day and
03 Sunrise
An average looking sunrise. not go back for a rest during the middle of the day.
We drove in the direction of our camp site at Punda Maria. We saw zebra standing close together under the shade of a small tree, terrapin swimming in a river and a journey of giraffe. At first we stopped to watch one giraffe. Then another and another giraffe appeared. Within a few minutes there were six of them, different heights, all standing together, looking in various directions- this made a great photo. A little bit further down the road we came across a herd of buffalo. This herd was very small compared to the herd we saw earlier this morning.
By now it was mid afternoon which meant it was time for a cold drink. So as we slowly drove around we enjoyed a few cold ones, cider for me and beer for Paul. We were then held up by a breeding herd of elephants crossing the road. They quickly disappeared amongst the Mopane trees once they crossed the road.
Just before we entered the campsite we stopped to watch a small herd of impalas – a nice sighting as there were young ones. We parked at reception,
04 Rear End
The rear end of a buffalo. bought an ice cream and went for a walk around the area, our legs were in need of a stretch! There was a troop of Vervet Monkeys with adults and young ones. We spent a bit of time watching their activities, as they groomed each other and found food. There also was a female bushbuck wandering around the rest camp.
Back at our tent we started to prepare dinner. We then heard a noise. It was a small herd of old, male buffaloes crashing through the bush. They came to the muddy pan right by the campsite fence. We walked to the fence and watched them drink the muddy water and walk in the mud. Later during the evening we could hear them still enjoying the mud. Today was another amazing day in Kruger.
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